Tag Archives: hop

We did a post a while back on how to keep your inspiration regarding brewing your own beer. One of the ways that I’ve found a lot of inspiration for my own home brewing is to go and try some different beers out. It’s also just fun to be a critic of different micro beers.

You might find that you like some things that different breweries do, or you may hate somethings. But don’t stop there, make sure to find the recipes and see what type of grains and hops that they use. Sometimes it’s as easy as just going to their website and they will have it listed. Other times you can e-mail the head brewer, explain that you are a homebrewer and you are interested in their recipe. Make sure to send them a recipe of what you think their beer is to show that you’ve put in some effort. A lot of times these guys started off as homebrewers themselves and are pretty helpful to fellow homebrewers.

It’s pretty easy to find clones on the internet, that’s what’s cool about the homebrewing community – we share all knowledge. Just type in, “_______ clone recipe”, I’m sure you’ll find lots of results. Normally it’s hard to get the perfect clone but it does give an excellent template to work with. So with out further delay, here is the list of top beers for 2012 to make sure you try them out. The full list can be found at the AHA website. If you know of, or recommend any brew that are not on the list that is a must try let us know!

Top-Ranked Beers

For 2012, we have a four-peat! Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, a double IPA, claimed the top spot for the fourth straight year. Finishing second for the third straight year was Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, an IPA. (T indicates tie)